T indicated at the start that this was a “proof of concept” — but the concept he wanted to prove is still to be discovered.

Might just be that Peter Parker, as conceived, had untapped reservoirs of cool that no one ever picked up on. ZZ’s BS sense seems like a marriage of PP’s spider sense with PP’s academic whiz background.

If I’m reading this correctly, the point he’s making is that, while she’s trying to make herself look like a Ditkovite, the clues point to her being an impostor, working for the studio for… some reason. Not to mention that his question in the second panel implies a pretty sinister suspicion.

“but I wonder: would it make more or less sense if my familiarity with Spider-Man extended beyond having seen the Sam Raimi movies?”

I only have a peripheral familiarity with Spider Man (not much better than you) and I’m quite enjoying this. This part of the story, at least, relies less on Spider-Man itself and more on the personalities behind his creation.

An explanation of Steve Ditko’s philosophy and the rather surprising political faction it has spawned in this alternate world probably wouldn’t fit in 30 panels, much less three. Ditko himself tried, once, with his Mr. A series, and they contained many walls of text unfit for web publication.

Suffice to say that the Ditkovites – if they are as they have been presented so far, either person in this conversation could be mistaken or lying – seem to me to be capital E-grade Evil. Neither person in this conversation seems to fully understand this – though ZZ seems to have an inkling.

I have not yet decided whether the Diktovites are SUPPOSED to be evil, though. Alas, that I cannot read the mind of the writer.

Ghoti: Essentially all you’re missing are the references to famous Spider-Man creators. JRJR, for example, is the son of John Romita and in our world, also a famous comic artist, but apparently in this world is something more like a celebrity.

Ditkovites as a group are a reference to Steve Ditko (co-creator of Spider-Man) and his rather extreme political views. For all that the guy is very talented and brought us some amazing comics, he’s also something of a… well, a nutjob.

Stevarious: Damn you, you got in there first. And I don’t think the Ditkovites are actually supposed to be evil, but you have to consider that Zachary is clearly opposed to them and Bodicaea is not an actual member and so poorly armed to defend them.

If last Friday’s page is anything to go by, abortion is most definitely not illegal, but I don’t think it’s the legality that’s important, just the fact that ZZ used his super perception to identify that it’s something BB doesn’t want people to know about.

I get the oblique references – Ditko’s role is clear from the context, for example, and names can always be googled.

What I’m getting at is, while the setting of the story is a world where Spider-Man (and his creators) had a huge influence on everything from everyday social interaction to long-term politics, the story of Zachary Zyzzyva only seems to use that setting as background flavor. The background story and the main plot are interesting in and of themselves, but they don’t really seem essential to each other.

What I can’t understand is, what does Ditko have against makeup and nail polish? He must have a massive beef with them if you can’t be a “good Ditkovite” and still wear them, or if the very fact that you use nail polish gives you away as a non-Ditkovite.